City Archives

The City of Thunder Bay Archives preserves, promotes and makes public the City's corporate history. Have you ever wanted to research your family's past, or wondered about the history of your home? Are you interested in the history of the City and its services and attractions? We have many documents in our collection that can help you answer these questions.

The City Archives holds public open houses throughout the year, check the Events Calendar.

Collections

The City Archives keeps the corporate records of the cities of Thunder Bay, Fort William and Port Arthur. We also have land registry records for Thunder Bay and the surrounding townships. You can view our collections record list.

Local history reference Library

We also have a small local history reference library, and historical directories for visitors to use at the Archives.

We do not have historical newspapers or records of private businesses, organizations or individuals. View our Local History Resources to locate these records in Thunder Bay.

Rules for researchers

The Archives holds very fragile, one-of-a-kind materials that need to be handled very carefully by staff and researchers. We have some rules about how researchers should behave when handling documents:

Do not remove materials from the Archives

Use only pencils to take notes, no pens.

Do not make marks on a document or erase anything from a document

Wear the gloves provided and be very careful when handling materials

Take items out of a box or folder one at a time so they don't get out of order

Credit the City of Thunder Bay Archives when publishing photographs or quoting from materials in our collection

Copies

You can use your own camera or phone to take pictures of documents.

Photocopies and microfilm printouts

Photocopies and microfilm printouts are $0.55 per page. The student rate is $0.25 per page.

Digital copies of photographs and documents

High-resolution digital copies of photographs and other documents already scanned are $2 per image; students can have the first five images free.

Using images for publication

Using images for publication is subject to approval. The cost for images approved for publication is $10 per image. Researchers have to sign an agreement about how they can use photographs and other images. Other fees may apply, you can find them in our User Fees.

Research application

The Archives is open and accessible to everyone. When you visit the Archives for the first time, we will ask you to fill out a research application, please bring some form of ID.

Archival access and privacy

The public can access most of the documents in the City Archives. Some of our documents contain sensitive or personal information and an Archivist will have to review the documents to decide if you can look at them.

Restricted documents

If you want access to restricted documents, you may have to sign a research agreement or submit a Freedom of Information request.

Freedom of Information

If you want to see current City records, or records that are not yet in the public City Archives, you will have to submit a Freedom of Information request.

Donating to the Archives

The City of Thunder Bay Archives mainly collects records created by City departments through our Records Management Program. If you would like to donate records to the Archives, please contact us by phone or by email.

The Archives does accept donations of documents, photographs, and other materials documenting the history of Thunder Bay, particularly when related to municipal government or municipally run programs or projects. Records of former Mayors, Councillors, committees, or individuals who have made significant contributions to the life of our City are also welcome.

The City of Thunder Bay Archives cannot accept all donation offers. In many cases where the donation cannot be accepted, we will work with you to find a suitable home for those records.

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